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Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana

Providing for our Community -
The Impact of World War II and other outside influences, along with successful
petitioning in Washington, inspired additional Tribal efforts toward
establishing and improving community programs to meet the needs of the Tribe.

Education is one of the
Tribe’s top priority; a commitment evidenced by sacrifices during the early
years at Carlisle Indian School to the school in Chief Ernest “Papa Jack”
Darden’s home, to the condemned school building, from which grew the Tribal
School on reservation today. From the small, determined, yet humble start of
education on the Chitimacha Reservation, our students
have gone on to become tribal leaders; lawyers, dentists, doctors, nurses,
teachers, businessmen, administrators, directors of Tribal programs, Tribal
Councilmen, and Tribal Chairman.

The Chitimacha
Tribe of Louisiana in its dedication to education offers a variety of
educational scholarships, grants and awards to enrolled Chitimacha
Tribal members who wish to further their education. “As tribal chairman, I wish
you success in your endeavors; for your success is also ours. As our past
Chairman Ralph Darden once said, ‘You are the future
of our Tribe’.” Quote from Chairman Alton D. LeBlanc, Jr.

In the early 1990s, we began
phased development of a comprehensive Master Plan. It addressed everything from
housing to cultural preservation. The biggest catalyst for its implementation
came in the 1980s, when we succeeded in winning gaming rights. We established
the Chitimacha Development Corporation (CDC) to head
up all economic development. Gaming provided the funds needed to accelerate
tribal development projects. In 1985, we opened the 30,000 square foot Bayouland Bingo, our first gaming development on the
reservation.

The Chitimacha
Tribe, pursuant to its’ Sovereign authority, owns and operates the Cypress
Bayou Casino. The Chitimacha Tribal Gaming Commission
has the primary regulatory responsibility to oversee all gaming operations on
the reservation. The Commission is also responsible to ensure consistency and
compliance of Casino operations with the various technical provisions of the
Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, National Indian Gaming Commission and the
Tribal/State compact.

A Thriving Community - Due to
proper planning, we now enjoy education, housing, health care, social/human
service, childcare, law enforcement, fire protection, recreation,
senior/assisted living, and cultural programs. Our community services are so
effective that the Tribe has become a model for other communities, both Native
and non-Native American. This success is made possible by economic development
revenues and assistance from the Federal Government through grants.

Investing in the Future - The
future is always foremost in tribal planning, for we aim to provide for future
generations of Chitimacha. We nurture working
relationships with federal, state, and regional leadership, paving the way for
future growth and collaborative ventures.

Tribal Government

Traditional Government - In
our traditional Tribal government, the head Chief or Chieftess
presided over approximately fifteen villages. Each village had a population of
at least 1,500 and was governed by four to five War Chiefs, one or more
Spiritual Leader, a Medicine Person, and a Ceremonial Leader.

Contemporary Government - On
September 14, 1970, the Tribe adopted a Constitution and bylaws, and the
traditional system of government was replaced with a Tribal Council consisting
of a Chairman, Vice- Chairman, Secretary/ Treasurer and two councilman at large
elected by the Chitimacha People. The Chitimacha Tribe is a Sovereign Nation that shares a unique
government-to-government relationship with the United States.

The Chitimacha
Tribal Council is the governing body, while departments within the Tribal
organization run day-to-day operations of the Tribal government.

Land Issues

Origin Legend - Honoring the
Great Spirit, the Chitimachas believed he made the
world and all that was in it from his own body. He did not look like a man,
they believed, because he had no eyes and ears. But he could see everything and
hear everything and knew everything.

First there was nothing but
water, hiding the earth. The Great Spirit made fish and shellfish to live in
the water. The Indians believed he told the crawfish to dive under the water
and bring up mud to make the earth. As soon as this was done, he made men and
called the earth and men “Chitimacha”.

They believed he gave men
laws to live by, and for a time all went well. But soon the men forgot the laws
and the world was no longer good. The Great Spirit knew something must be done.
He finally made tobacco and women and gave them to man. But still, all was not
well. The animals made fun of men because he had neither fur nor feathers to cover
his body. Legend has it that he gave man bows and arrows to shoot the animals
and use their fur to cover his body.

The world needed light and
heat, so the Great Spirit made the moon and the sun. The moon was man and the
sun his wife. Indian legend says the Great Spirit told them they must bathe
often in order to be strong enough to give off light and heat. The sun did what
she was told and bathed often. But the moon did not obey. He took no baths. And
to this day, he can still be seen chasing across the sky trying to catch the
sun. Ernest Darden.

“This is how the Bayou Teche was formed,” they tell you. “Ages ago a huge venomous
snake lay across the land. Its length was not measured by feet but by miles.
Its head lay beyond where Morgan City
stands today. Its tail lay farther west than St. Martinville.
After a time the Chitimacha chief called his warriors
to battle with the serpent. Their weapons were clubs, bows and arrows, the
arrows tipped with the teeth of the garfish. The snake writhed as they wounded
it. It turned, twisted and coiled in its death struggle. The great body
broadened, curved and deepened the mud where it lay. The waters flowed in,
cutting the channel deeper and deeper. That was the way the Bayou Teche was made. The word “Teche”
in the Chitimacha tongue means ‘snake’.” Ernest
Darden and Robert Vilcan

Our Homelands Plundered -
Land loss began in the late 1600s through battles with the French and Spanish.
In the early 1700s, bands of heavily armed Frenchmen began attacks and slaving
raids on our villages. These attacks progressed into a devastating twelve-year
war. Afterward, survivors retreated to remote backwaters of the main village.
In the late 1700s, the Chitimacha Tribe was
recognized by French and Spanish Governors of Louisiana, guaranteeing the
Tribe’s territorial integrity. This “guarantee” was not honored, and continued
encroachment by French, Spanish, and English settlements further reduced our
land holdings.

In 1846, the Tribe found it
necessary to sue the U.S. government for confirmation of title. The resulting
decree established a mere 1,093.43 acres as Chitimacha
territory. Between 1850 and 1916, taxation-forced sales and continued
litigation reduced Tribal land holdings to just 261.54 acres. In spite of
hardships, prejudice, and discrimination, we succeeded in holding on to what
little remained of our homelands. Today, we are the only Tribe in Louisiana to still occupy a portion of its’ aboriginal land.

During the 1990s, revenues
from commercial enterprises provided the Tribe with funding for additional land
acquisitions. Today approximately 1,000 acres have been re-acquired. The Tribe
continues to look for opportunities to further expand land holdings, planning
for future growth.

Housing

Ancestral Homes - The
traditional construction of homes reflected the essence of our culture: a Tribe
striving together for the common good. Each spring and fall, the entire Tribe
worked side by side until every hut in the village had been rebuilt.

Palmetto Huts - These huts
were easily built of local materials and were ideally suited to our subtropical
climate. The mud and moss walls made homes cool in summer and warm in winter. A
small central fire provided heat for cooking and smoke, which helped repel
mosquitoes. The thick palmetto thatch roof kept out even the heaviest
downpours. Through the villagers’ efforts, the walls of a new hut could be
completed in a single day. Palmetto homes were either square or octagon in
shape.

Village Life

Ways of our Ancestors - The Chitimacha lived utilizing available resources from the
land and water provided by neyq (earth), carefully
taking only what was needed for survival. Living in harmony with the land, we
cultivated maize and sweet potatoes, and also harvested wild vegetables, game,
fish, and shellfish. Our culture was distinct. We used two forms of our
language, polite and common, and had a complex clan system. Tribal members held
certain positions within the Tribe and could be distinguished by lifestyle,
dress, hairstyle, and body art.

Traditional Dress - Women
traditionally painted their faces red and white only, while men painted theirs
red and black only. Women wore their hair loose, in braids or tresses,
depending on their martial status. Men also wore their hair loose or braided,
except during war and ceremony, when it was pulled high up into a “ponytail.”
Both women and men adorned their hair with feathers. Warriors were
distinguished by necklaces, nose rings, earrings, tattoos, and scarification of
their knees.

Clothing at the time of
European contact consisted of breechcloths, moccasins, and dresses made from
deer hide. These hides were brain tanned scraping off the hair, working the
brain into the hide for softness and curing, and the stretching the hide over a
framework of poles for smoking. Under the framework, a small, but heavily
smoked fire was made using palmetto leaves. The hide was smoked on both sides
until it cured. Hide garments were sewn using sinew and then decorated
according to personal taste. Shells and woodpecker scalps were part of the
adornment on the women’s dresses. Chiefs used hides that had been blackened
with charcoal for their breechcloths.

In addition to hide, the Chitimacha used cloth that they wove from native plants for
clothing until the introduction of European trade cloth. By the late seventeen
hundreds, our clothing styles had already begun to reflect the strong influence
of the European culture.

This series of pictures,
documenting the basket making process, were taken in the early 1930s.

The Canoe - The canoe was the
primary mode of transportation used to navigate the bayous and AtchafalayaBasin, allowing access to hunting and fishing grounds. The
traditional canoe was made from water-resistant cypress, cottonwood or elm.
Large canoes were approximately 30 feet long and could hold 15 to 30 people.

Its flat-hulled, narrow shape
was ideal for navigating everything from shallow cypress swamps to open waters,
and its influence can be seen in the design of historic pirogues as well as
modern Delta boats.

Legend –
How the First Canoe Was Made. It
is said that the knowledge of how to make the canoe was given to the Chitimacha by their Supreme Deity who took six Indians into
the woods and showed them how to fell a cypress tree by burning the trunk.
After the tree had fallen he showed them how to secure a section of the right
length by lighting fires under the log, and how to shape the bottom ends of the
canoe by burning the surface of the log and scraping the charred wood with a
clam shell. A fire was made on top of the log for its entire length in order to
make the inside of the canoe, the wood being charred and scraped so the opening
would be the right depth and width. A mold of mud was laid along the upper edge
of the partly finished canoe so that burning would not go too far down on the
side, and the upper edge of the opening was made smooth by careful scraping.
The Supreme Deity showed them how to do all this, so the canoe: “would be
useful to the Indians in going from place to place.” It was propelled by a
paddle, like that used by other tribes.

Weavers of the Past and Future

Weavers of
the past, Weavers of the Future.
Our Chiefs and Chairmen have continually worked for the improvement of our
people. With vision for the Tribe’s future and commitment to our people, their
leadership has shaped all that we enjoy today. Education and economic
development are just a few of our Tribal leaders
commitments.

Our basket makers are
responsible for carrying our culture into the future. Baskets made hundreds of
years ago and baskets made today still show the identical patterns and style of
our ancestors. Basket makers such as Clara Darden, DelphineStouff, Christine Paul and Pauline Paul are known for
their basketry style and commitment to the cultural art. Their perseverance and
instruction of the art to Chitimacha women and children, have insured that our basket makers of today have
the same knowledge as of generations ago.

Tribal Mission Statement -
The Tribal Council in defining its responsibilities to their people, adopted
the following mission statement June 8, 1996 - “We the people of the Sovereign
Nation of the Chitimacha, in order to proclaim and
perpetuate our vision, hereby embrace these beliefs: We must preserve and
protect our natural resources, our people and all Native Americans. We must
promote a harmonious existence among ourselves and within our community. We
must maintain the highest level of integrity, honor and authenticity in all our
endeavors, and We must always exist as a Nation by
preserving our cultural heritage.”